In an older section of Buckingham palace, far from any
windows, five teens showered together after a long and fulfilling night, Tim
and Pete had taken turns being stuffed by the three prince's one after
another as their turn finally came around continuing what was started in the
plane. Hands wandering around bodies as they cleaned each other. Knowing
there was not that much time to play as they had to be at breakfast in half
an hour, the five stepped out of the shower and took turns drying each other
before moving back into the room to get dressed.

Joining Friedrich in the sitting room, Pete went over
to their bag and pulled out a small case, opening it, he smiled as his eyes
took in the three nestled communicator’s along with the panic button for
Richard. “Time to hand out something that Aaron sent over. Richard, your
first, since I have the panic button Aaron was telling you about,” Pete held
up the watch.

Moving around Andrew, so he could get close enough to
take the watch Richard looked at it quizzically before asking, “Alright, how does
it work, it looks like a simple watch, nothing else…which I suppose is what
it is supposed to look like.”

“Besides telling the time, it has two nifty little
features, one…it has a built in camera, so if the panic button is set off,
it will activate and transmit a picture of the area so security will be able
to get a lock on your area for transport. The second, of course, is the
panic button, which can be activated two ways, the first of course is if you
take the watch off, so after you put it on don’t take it off,” Pete smiled
when Richard nodded in agreement. “The second way to activate it will be
overlooked for nervousness, all you have to do is twist the face all the way
around, either direction doesn’t matter which.”

Smiling as he put the watch on and looked at it Richard
frowned when he realized his parents would be there this morning at
breakfast. Straightening his shoulders he had decided yesterday to ask the
simple question of where the bloody hell they were, and why only grandmother
was there when he woke up.

Pete shared a look with Tim as they caught the surface
thought and the determination from Richard, “The second thing Aaron sent,
and he sent one for each of you is one of our communicators we all wear.
Which means he intends to set up a terminal around here for your use,”
handing each of them the properly labeled communicator he showed them how to
insert it in their ear and how to activate it. “The other neat thing about
the com is it’s a locator beacon, so if you get into trouble we will know
where you are and be able to find you quickly.”

Friedrich pointed to his communicator, “Thomas will be
the only one not in the group so to speak that will have one, he will act as
the go between to your regular security detail.”

Edward looked confused as he placed the com in his ear,
“We don’t have a regular security detail, the only time we get security is
if we are leaving the country, and most of it is provided by the country we
are visiting with only one or two from our grandmother’s staff.”

Friedrich smiled, “That is the past, the future is
different, as you well know what is going to happen tomorrow, which means
you each will have a shared detail, from now on. Thomas and I have discussed
things, I will be back to scan every one of the prospective guards for your
detail to make sure they will not only be discreet,” Friedrich was referring
to their bedroom activities, “but also one hundred percent loyal. I hate to
rain on your parade, but after Friday, all three of you will become valid
targets by disgruntled politicians when your grandmother takes back control
of the country. Even more so for you Edward, after she releases her
announcement in a month’s time of you being the heir apparent, we expect you
will need to have a detail more involved than your grandmother’s.”

Seeing Edward frown to hide his worry, Friedrich
smiled, “Don’t look so down, Edward; any time you have to leave the country
to go anywhere, you will be surrounded by Alteran security and flown in our
jets, the same with your brother and cousin.”

Tim smiled and elbowed Edward gently in the ribs, “That
means we will be able to hook up more often, I’ll make sure Mark comes along
on the first of those trips,” he giggled, “I saw you the other day, staring
at him.”

Edward blushed before giving up on trying to talk his
way out of it, after all, how do you lie to a telepath, instead, he reached
out and placed a hand on Tim’s cheek and thought real hard, “Well he is real
hot looking after all, all of you are, and I would like to get to know all
of you better,” it was the only way he could say it without blushing deeper
than he was now, ending with the thought of Aaron in his bed with him lying
there all excited.

Tim smiled and nodded seriously, “His hotness does that
to all of us,” he fanned an imaginary fan in front of his body for added
effect.

“His hotness?” Andrew asked, wondering who Tim was
talking about.

“Aaron,” Pete said dreamily, “you have to admit he has
one hot body, and that is before he does things to you that drive you wild,
things I never even knew were possible…I never thought it was possible to
cum that many times so close together, like I do when I’m with him.”

“You don’t have time for any more fooling around, so
may I suggest we get moving towards the dining room for breakfast, much more
talk like this will have me in the bathroom and you lot back in the
bedroom,” Friedrich told them, as he stood up and straightened his clothes
glad he did not need to adjust himself like Edward and his charges did.

Laughing, the teens started out of the room Edward
leading the way, Tim though was lost in thought; he needed to sit down with
Aaron and talk things over before he pushed people Friedrich’s way; it was
not fair that someone living in the hall had to take care of themselves all
the time and be lonely. Walking into the dining room, he wondered what
Friedrich looked for in a lover. He was startled out of his musings when
Richard spoke so coldly.

“Mother…Father, how absolutely wonderful of you to take
time out to remember your son. Or did you come here today because
grandmother asked you?” Richard’s voice was cold and he was holding back the
hurt he felt when his parents glanced his way when he walked in and then
turned back to the conversation without greeting him.

“See here young man, that is no way to talk to your
father or me,” Richard’s mother frowned as she was interrupted from her
conversation with her sister-in-law.

Richard ignored her admonishment and went right for the
question he feared the answer to and needed the answer to, “I really only
have one question…why is it that only Grandmother and my cousins were there
when I woke up from being healed?”

“Richard, sit down and be quiet, we will discuss your
behavior when we get home, there are some harsh truths you will have to get
used to living with, because of our position and how we are perceived,”
discussion finished, Richard's father turned back to talk to his eldest
brother who was wincing as he saw his mother's anger.

“I think it is a very valid question…Richard, you and
your friends come sit by me. That way when your father tells us what was so
important that he could not even be with his son after being injured like
you were, or even doing what needed to be done to get you help, you will
know that at least one member of the family cares,” Victoria smiled at
Richard, as the rest of the table went quiet, they heard the anger in their
mother’s voice.

Sitting down, Richard stared at his empty plate for a
moment before staring at his mother and father, “I truly don’t remember the
last time either of you hugged me, so do you even love me or am I just the
obligation of what was expected, to be ignored now that the obligation is
over.”

Richard’s father picked up his napkin and threw it on
his plate, “I have heard enough of your insolence get your things we are
going home and I will deal with you there, evidently we have given you too
much latitude…that ends now.”

Pointing to his chair Victoria had steel in her voice,
“Sit down now, and answer the question. Maybe I am the one who gave YOU too
much latitude growing up, either that, or I expected too much of you when
you certainly are not ready for the responsibilities.”

“Mother this is a family matter and you do not need to
be involved in this, and frankly your opinion is not needed or wanted.” Her
son refused to sit down and helped his wife up from her seat.

“I was so close to disinheriting you after seeing the
newspaper article of you playing golf and laughing over a beer in the
clubhouse while your son lay dying in the hospital, it infuriated me as a
mother, that you would be so callous to your own son. I know of your plans
of an arranged marriage you hastily agreed to, after finding out your son
not only would live but would be better than he was before he was
injured…consider them null and void.” Victoria stood, her voice cold enough
to shatter steel as she glared at him, “Now the both of you sit down…NOW.”

“Richard is no longer your responsibility, he is mine,”
Victoria sat back down and stared at her third son, still standing, “I
ordered the Earl and Countess to sit, if you no longer wish to hold those
titles or have the benefits that come with them, then by all means continue
to stand or even leave.”

Richard’s mother afraid to lose her title or the monies
that went along with it sat and pulled her husband’s arm, yanking him down
into his chair.

“I have come to an unfortunate conclusion, and once my
eyes were opened, I found it to be reprehensible what we have become,”
Victoria sighed as she smiled at her second born and his wife, as they still
showed and lived what she had tried to install in all her children.

Victoria stopped when her husband whispered in her ear
that the prime minister made it past security, now having an outlet for her
anger that would not burn bridges she nodded her head at her husband’s
suggestion that he handle things from here on, he knew what she wanted done
and he agreed with her wholeheartedly, he just forgot to mention to her his
way was harsher than hers would ever be. “Boys, bring your wives and join me
in my study, there is a talk that has been needed to be had for a long time
now, and it is past time that you were jerked up by your trousers and made
to face reality.”

Steering his children and their wives out of the room
he smiled back reassuringly to his wife, the Queen, knowing he had the
easier job and thanked the Gods that the prime minister interrupted so he
could handle this the way he wanted to.

Victoria had time to place her hand on her grandson’s
to comfort him before the door opened and the Prime Minster strolled in
unannounced, and as if he owned the place. “Good morning your Majesty, but
matters of state have made it clear that I need to interrupt you and take
over.” The Prime Minister looked at the boys before dismissing them as
unworthy of his attention, “It is high time to let the professionals handle
things, if we had been involved from the beginning, then yesterday would not
have happened, and they would not have been at Harrods in the first place
where they could be put in danger.”

“If what you wanted happened, then a boy would have
ended up dead, killed by his abusive father,” Andrew pointed out, through
clenched teeth, angry he was being talked to like this.

“And if you had let us do our jobs, the representatives
would have been shown only what we wanted them to see, putting a proper
picture before their eyes, they would have met properly approved of people,”
The Prime Minister glared at the boy, for daring to interrupt his betters.
“As far as that unfortunate boy, well he would be better off in the long
run, after all, rumor has it he was one of those people.”

Pete and Tim shared glances and Pete pathed Tim,
telling him to hold off and let the man dig his own grave, glancing at
Friedrich, standing by the door, Pete pathed him, “Get
the car out front we’re leaving, if we’re lucky we can stop and get
something to eat as I’m hungry, as well as the others, I bet.”

Nodding, Friedrich turned slightly and ordered the car
brought around, after he finished pathing his men he smiled when he received
back it was already waiting. It seems his men had taken the initiative to
leave as soon as they saw the Prime Minister storm in.

“Some people are so rude they shouldn’t be allowed to
speak without a minder,” Pete stopped the conversation as he threw his
napkin onto his empty plate, “we’re evidently not
wanted here, and since it is clear we will not get anything to eat while
this person…” Pete drawled person in a disgusted manner, “does nothing but
verbally attack us while we try to even fill our plates. We shall of course
now leave and maybe we can get something to eat before we have to go to our
studies.” Pete stood along with Tim and the other three quickly stood, “so I
will thank you for your hospitality now, and until next time,” he bowed his
head slightly in her direction before walking out the door, followed by Tim
and the others.

“Finally, it is about time they realized that this is
best left in the hands of the professionals,” the Prime Minster sounded
gleeful, “when do you expect the diplomats that you have done your best to
keep from us to arrive.”

Throwing her napkin on her plate and wondering if the
kitchen had something she could grab like a couple of scones, Victoria
glared as she stood, “I don’t expect them, they just now left after you
spent the last few minutes insulting them.” Victoria told him, as he left
the room.

Rushing out of the room and pushing past the staff in
the hall the Prime Minister missed the limo as it pulled away, motioning for
his driver to come quick he hoped he could catch them before they made the
airport.

Sitting in the back of the limo, Pete held Richard in
his lap hugging him tight, as they talked, letting him know without words,
that he belonged. Tilting his head to the side, he smiled as he received a
message from Aaron, “Aaron’s here and he has food, so we’re supposed to go
right to the plane so we can eat before you three have to go back,” breaking
down in laughter as Aaron broke contact Pete almost dropped Richard onto the
floor, “he told me that we are supposed to keep our hands to ourselves as
there is not enough time to fool around this morning.”

Richard started to unsnap is trousers, “We have an hour
before we can get to the airport with this traffic,
that is long enough for most of us to be able to at least get off once,
right?”

Laughing, Pete reached around and re-snapped the
buttons and pulled up Richard’s zipper as it suddenly got dark and then the
sunlight hit the car once again, “Not when Aaron is around…we’re here.”

Jumping off Pete’s lap, Richard scooted to the window
and looked out, they were in fact at the airport, “Bloody hell, how did that
happen, we just left the palace a few minutes ago and it’s sixty six
kilometers from the palace to Heathrow.”

Tim smirked as the door was opened from outside by
Friedrich, “What? You thought we showed you all our toys.” Seeing the look
of shock turn into one of mischief on Andrew’s face, he ran towards the
plane, giggling, “I’m hungry are you guys Cumming or what.”

Giggling at the double entendre, Edward got out of the
limo and stretched before following the rest of the group up the stairs
where he was promptly pulled into a hug by Aaron and kissed soundly before
blushing at his words.

“Well, you taste like yourself, so I imagine you didn’t
have time to do anything, after all,” Aaron tried to sound disappointed, but
soon joined in the laughter.

Escorting Edward to the rear of the plane, past the
conference room they had all their fun in, he was shown into a large meeting
room full of people, shocked, he looked around and noticed the whole Clan
was here, including Mark and Fred., “How…when…”

Smiling Aaron nudged him towards the serving line, “We
were about to sit down for breakfast when Tim contacted us, telling us about
your unexpected guest driving you away without having a chance to eat, so we
decided to eat as a family and brought everything with us. Best you get over
there before it’s all gone, we can talk after a bit.”

Pulling Friedrich aside, Aaron asked him as he watched
his lovers and family going through the serving line and filling their
plates with food, “How much trouble am I going to have dealing with the
Prime Minister, Friedrich?” catching him reaching for his control bracelet,
Aaron placed a hand on his arm stopping the movement, “no, don’t rely on
your gift for every decision, let it be a warning system, nothing more for
now. I am asking you to use your experience dealing with military
bootlickers and politicians to answer my question.”

Dropping his arm, Friedrich nodded as he thought about
what he should say, he and Aaron already knew that in one possible future,
the Prime Minister orchestrated the downfall of the crown, finally, he
looked at the expectant face of his King, “He will be a problem from the
first moment he lays eyes on you, he is already a problem in my opinion.”

“That is what I wanted to know, later on tonight, I
will let you know my decision on when to send flowers to the grieving
family,” Aaron warned him, before smiling and joining in at breakfast now
that the line was empty.

Finishing his second breakfast, as his first was
interrupted, Aaron stood and got everyone’s attention, “Now, before time
gets away from us and while you fill those bottomless stomachs and lick up the
trays.” He grinned
at their mock scowls that turned into giggles by the younger of the group
led by Kenny. “When you’ve finished and I mean truly finished, I will be
next door in my office,” he grinned catching some of the blushing going on
by the British contingent. “Andrew, Edward and Richard, one at a time,
whoever is first, a quick chat before you take off. The rest of you well,
some of you are going to Hawaii, shopping, while the rest of us go home.”

Seeing the puzzled looks on their faces, Aaron
chuckled, “Tommy you have an appointment at five different orchid farms this
afternoon, and you are forbidden from going anywhere else until you have
been to all five and bought something for yourself at each one, my treat.”
Sensing the objections, Aaron shook his head, “no arguments young man, or
there is no nookie with anyone for a week,” he scowled, hiding the grin, but
he did send his love towards him and grinned when Tommy finally sighed and
nodded his head as if being asked to take out the garbage for the umpteenth
time.

Letting them go back to eating, Aaron motioned for
Friedrich to follow using a finger, walked into his office and sniffed the
air, someone had done a good job of airing the room out, as if he did not
know who it was…Pete…he grinned, pointing to the seat across from his desk,
Aaron got right to the point, “You are going to head up the security detail
for Tommy’s trip, and you will be doing the driving, so make sure he goes to
these five farms before you let him talk you into going anywhere else,”
Aaron slid a paper over with the addresses and names of the five farms.

“One last thing, as I picked up on something from Tim
earlier, he is planning on hooking you up with someone so you are not
alone, unless you get your act together and find someone yourself. You might
be able to head off his matchmaking if you tell him you are looking and
giving him a list of things your lover must have, before you are willing to
consider them,” Aaron grinned at the paling man sitting across from him. “All
teasing aside, he wants you to be happy, like he found happiness and he will
start throwing guys into your bed, unless you show him you are looking. Too
bad Thomas is Bi though, you might be given a reprieve if he is willing to
be the ‘for now’ bed partner until you both find the 'forever' bed partner.”

“Speaking of Thomas, pull him aside, as I want a three
man team keeping an eye and a mind on the three prince's, two of them, after
all, will eventually be joining us. Use some of the new guys being released
this afternoon, give them the weekend to start mastering their gifts before
starting first thing Monday morning. We will join the Ares and the Asclepius
when it docks tomorrow, or at least the Clan will, I will be at the house of
Lords, Kyle will act as my backup, while receiving the letters of Marquee
and watching the Prime Minister have an unfortunate heart attack, too much
stress, I think, so sad he should have retired when told to this morning.”
Aaron finished, as he felt Edward approach, and stood, signaling the end to
the meeting.

“I’ll just get right on that, your Majesty, and thank
you for the warning. I think I saw Thomas head upstairs when they arrived,
so if you will excuse me I have someone to see how closely we can work
together, finding time for meetings in both our busy schedules.” Friedrich
smirked before letting the bemusement he felt over Tim’s matchmaking plans
cross his face.

Following Friedrich to the door, Aaron met Edward there
and pulling him into a hug as he closed the door behind them, he kissed him
lightly at first then hard and with more passion as Edward responded,
releasing after a moment, Aaron grinned, “Hold that thought. Next time you
visit Alteran soil, we will just have to fulfill you desires, and I must
say, for a recently deflowered virgin, your desires are intense.” He giggled
at the blush before kissing him gently once more before leading him to the
couch. Sitting down first, he pulled Edward down in front of him and cuddled
as he trapped Edward’s hands with his and held them to Edward’s chest using
them to pull him closer as he spooned him from behind.

“Now that I am done embarrassing you, I have a few
things you need to know, one of which is that I am going to assign a guard
detail to you and both your brother and cousin. They will work independently
from behind the scenes with your own newly created detail which Thomas is in
charge of. Like that gold digger at Harrods yesterday, they will ensure that
no one gets close to you, with intentions of using you like that girl had.
She planned to try to get you to agree to a date where her mother intended
to slip something in your drink to make you a little sleepy, so she could
get pregnant, she wanted you for your crown and money.” Feeling him stiffen
in front of him, Aaron whispered in his ear, “I promised I would look out
for you, and when you chose to start dating any that you picked would be
there because they wanted to know and be with Edward, not the future King of
England.”

“Which reminds me, I only sent one panic button
masquerading as a watch with Pete, I corrected that oversight and brought
two more, one for you and one for your brother. They’re on the desk, along
with your very own P.A.D.D. which can be DNA locked just like the one's Pete
and Tim...well everyone of us really carry around, plus there are a handful of
Isolinear chips that can be used between the P.A.D.D. and the terminals I am
having set up in the palace for your use.” Aaron felt the surprise and
smiled, “I believe your grandmother has decided for the next little while,
until things settle down, that you all will be moving into the family wing
of the palace.”

“I know you were bored while on Altair Minor, so that
is the only reason you probably logged in and took the placement tests, but
I have designed a course of study that will help you out if you follow it. Plus, I think even though you are going to a private school, you can handle
the extra work if you try. It will cut down on your school work as you test
out on subjects on our tutor system. Your headmaster wanted to skip you
ahead in some subjects, after being shown your results, but I think your
grandmother convinced him to let us handle it, so all told, instead of the
three to four hours the guys spend at the tutor, you will end up between
school and the tutor at about six hours.”

“Not too bad, I guess, that’s two hours less than I’m
doing now, so all in all, I’m ahead,” Edward sighed in relief, he did want
to have a life after all, and this was the best of both worlds he thought,
knowing Aaron would pick up on it if he was watching, wiggling his ass a
little so he felt the hardening cock swell between his cheeks, “I really
have to wait until I go back to the island before being with you?” Another
wiggle before he was playfully swatted.

“Stop that…what I said was it would have to wait until
the next time we were on Alteran soil which should be tomorrow night, on
board the Ares or Asclepius, whichever one I decide to sleep aboard, so
tonight, you’ll just have to get your brother and cousin to handle things
for you.” Aaron grinned, as he felt the excitement in Edward's mind before
releasing his hands and swatting him, as he pushed them both upright, “now,
unless you want a very cold shower and have to explain to everyone why you
suddenly were soaking wet, you’ll behave.” Aaron leaned around and kissed
him to let him know he was not angry, but that they did not have time right
now.

Nodding with a long drawn out sigh, “It would have been
grand, but I suppose your right a quickie is not as satisfying as you
draining me dry four or five times,” he giggled as he jumped forward two
steps and opened the box with his name on it. Taking out the watch, he
quickly placed it on his wrist, as Aaron handed over one of the P.A.D.D.’s
and a box of chips.

“Some of the chips have documents and such on them
already, so you know when you are talking to different groups or industries,
what our plans are. The people will really rally around you. Even if you
don’t know off the top of your head all the particulars, all you have to do
is look it up on your P.A.D.D.” Aaron grinned at Edward's fascination with
the device, “I already consider your first lesson in leading yesterday a
passing score, you did good and you now have a large number of people who
will look to you, not the government for direction. Keep that up and you
will have learned part of the lesson, the other part is to lead by doing,
those farmers and workers already think of you as a leader, because in their
minds, you went out of your way to find a way for them to secure their
futures. Think about it, and we’ll talk again tomorrow after lunch, your
homework is to compare what a ruler would have done to what a leader would
do in that situation.” Aaron laughed at Edward’s face falling into a frown
at hearing about homework.

“Not fair, it's summer Hols,” Edward groaned, before
giggling and jumping back, “who do you want to see next?”

“Doesn’t really matter; I guess it’s more of a chance
for me to touch base with you, hand over the P.A.D.D.’s and give Andrew his
panic button, now that you have yours, mainly I wanted to make sure Richard
is okay with what happened with his parents this morning. Or I would have
given you this stuff over breakfast, this way I’m not singling him out.”
Aaron told him as he followed along to the door.

Walking down the hall, Edward stopped for a moment and
considered Aaron’s words and how he did things, he would have to remember
this for when he had children, spending the extra few moments with each
alone so no one was singled out when one needed to be checked on to make
sure they were alright.

Passing Andrew in the hall, he nodded without thinking
as his brother was swept into the office and the door closed behind them.

A scant fifteen minutes later, a smiling Andrew walked
out of the office holding his new P.A.D.D. and clutching his box of
Isolinear chips, “Next…” giggled to Richard who was waiting across the hall,
leaning up against the wall.

Smiling, Aaron pulled Richard into the office and,
pulling him into a hug, kissed him gently before releasing him, “Let’s sit
down,” he pulled him over to the couch and sitting down pulled him close,
“How are you doing Richard? This morning must have been pretty rough on
you.”

Melting into the embrace, Richard let the pain he was
feeling out, tears running down his face, “They never wanted me, not really;
the only reason I was born was because their social obligations said they
had to have a child.”

Walking up the stairs, he wondered if he would be
welcomed on the plane, even if his sons were on board that was no guarantee
he would be granted access. Reaching the top of the steps, he stopped so he
could identify himself when Thomas glanced his way and called out for him to
be let in, “I think I should warn you, the Prime Minister is a few minutes
behind me, I beat him only because I took the helicopter.” He told them
that, as his eyes were firmly fixed on his sons, catching Edward’s eye, he
motioned for him to come over, putting them right outside Aaron’s office
door, “Your grandfather and I had words this morning, well, actually he had
words and I listened for the first time in a long while. One simple question
he asked me made me realize how much I have done to wrong both of you,” he
cleared his throat before looking out towards the main cabin where his
youngest was sitting talking with friends. “He asked me the last time I had
hugged one of my sons, I of course objected that I loved both my sons and
told him it might have not been today but it was not that long ago, surely.”

“I thought he was going to slap me before he told me he
had raised me better than to lie to myself like that, he slapped a newspaper
on the desk that had a picture of the two of us on the front page, hugging,”
swallowing his tears he continued, “I, of course, did not recognize it and
it took a moment before I realized it was you, not Andrew, and his words
tore at me…he told me to ask you …as you kept a copy of this to remember
that I did love you and that once I did know how to hug.” Pulling his son
into a tight hug he held on, even though his son stiffened and feeling it
broke his heart, knowing he was the cause, “I am more sorry than you can
ever know, over the way I have ignored you and have forgotten something the
King in there never will,” pulling away from the embrace, but keeping a good
hold on Edward, “He will never forget that love involves more than pretty
words.”

Adding his own tears to the mix, Edward grabbed a hold
of his father and held the hug for dear life. That was, until they both were
startled by the pain filled cry that came through the door.

“WHY…WHY IF THEY COULD NOT LOVE ME WOULD THEY HAVE
ME…THEY DID NOT EVEN CARE ENOUGH TO VISIT ME WHEN I WAS HURT…THEY PREFERED
THAT I WOULD HAVE DIED, THUS ENDING THEIR OBLIGATION.”

Aaron grabbed hold of the rapidly disintegrating teen,
and held him, as he did his best to sooth him sending out thoughts of love
and wanting him, to the distraught teen. Holding him, as he sobbed in his
arms, at all the pain he had kept bottled up, from being ignored and shunted
to the side all the time.

Opening the door, Edward and his father entered the
room and stood staring at the sobbing teen in Aaron’s arms, “I’m so sorry,
Richard…my brother is an Arse to not know what he is missing out on, and I
was an Arse and almost got lost in the same trap.”

Aaron nodded his understanding, before looking at the
clock, he would need to spend some quality time helping Richard heal, “Tell
your mother will you, that I’m taking Richard back with me for the night.
I’ll bring him back in the morning when the rest of us arrive for our
meeting. It’s time Richard started healing, and I can get a good beginning
on that this afternoon,” Looking down at the exhausted teen who was drowsy,
Aaron pointed with his free hand to the first aid kit near the door, “Bring
me that first aid kit, will you Edward?”

Once Edward rushed the kit over, Aaron pulled out the
sensor that tied into the soma unit and placed it on Richard’s forehead,
once in place, he activated it, sending the teen into a deep restful sleep,
once asleep, he positioned Richard so he was stretched out on the couch and
stood up, “Well, it seems his pain went pretty deep, for him to have a
meltdown like this,” Aaron muttered to himself. Seeing the concerned look on
Edward's face and surprisingly his father’s, Aaron assured them it would be
okay, “He’ll be fine once I help him sort a few things out. One of the
benefits of being a telepath is that we can, in the space of hours work
through things as if it were years. I promise you Edward, he will be back to
himself tomorrow, though the UK might have lost another citizen, if he asks,
I’ll grant it, you realize.”

Confused, Edward’s father looked at Aaron, “Asks what?”

Edward sighed before pulling himself up straight,
“Asylum father. If Richard asks for asylum, it will be granted. And his
father and my uncle might finally realize where his priorities should be.”

Aaron smiled at Edward, “Don’t look like that Edward,
your grandmother and I have been talking about marrying our two families
together, on and off the past couple of days anyway. We both agree that
Richard would be the first, if you remember our conversations on at the
hospital, it just might happen a little
earlier than either one of us planned,” glancing at his desk, he muttered,
“just like everything the past two weeks happened earlier than expected.”

Seeing the folder he forgot to give Edward earlier, he
picked it up, grinning, he handed it to Edward, “Here, this goes with the
homework I assigned you for tonight.”

Edward, curious, opened the folder and read through the
top cover letter before flipping the pages to the back, the signature page,
to see both Mark's and Aaron’s signature there. Smiling as he closed the
folder, he satisfied his father’s curiosity, “A ruler would take this
contract and hand it to someone else to see that the milk plant and farmers
get it…a leader, on the other hand, after spending all all that time at lunch talking it
over with the plant manager and farmers, would stop by the plant on his way
home, and drop it off in person. Especially after the plant manager went out
on a limb after talking to me, to give you those samples to prove they could
handle your business.”

Aaron smiled at his student, “You are learning. So drop
that off, and put up with the embarrassment that goes along with it as they
celebrate their good fortune, and we’ll talk some more after lunch tomorrow,
I need to get this plane in the air before the Prime Minister pisses off my
security.” Pathing Tim as he escorted them to the office door, “Tim,
can you and Kenny and Damien come to my office and stay with Richard while
he sleeps, I need to get on the upper deck to port the plane once we are
airborne.”

“On our way;
what happened?” Tim pathed, as he grabbed Kenny and Damien and met Aaron
and the others as they passed them in the hall, worried about his friend.

“A slight
meltdown, seems his home life was not that great, he’ll be fine once he
wakes and I have a chance to work with him, I think it overwhelmed him when
he found out that the way he was raised was not normal or acceptable to
others, including his grandmother.” Aaron said his goodbye’s to Andrew
and Edward, along with their father before cycling the door closed in the
ministers face as he tried to get in once more.

Standing in the middle of the lounge, Aaron smiled,
“Alrighty, who’s going to Hawaii and who’s going home, as soon as we get in
the air, we’ll port out and the rest can hit the tutor while en route to
Hawaii.”

Tommy looked up from his conversation with Brian and
Mark on ways around Aaron’s edict, and smiled innocently, “I think it’s just
me and whatever guards you’re sending.”

“Let me grab Richard, and then we’ll head for the upper
deck,” Aaron turned, and hearing Pete’s worried voice answered, “just a
slight meltdown, not as bad as Tim’s, but he’ll be fine once I get him alone
and spend some time helping him work through it, I’ll do the same for him as
Tim, I’ll take him into his mind and work through it so when he comes out,
it was years ago and long healed.”

Quickly walking back to his office, he smiled at Tim
and Kenny as Damien was sitting alongside Richard running his hand through
his hair in comfort, “Let me pick Richard up and then we’re going to go
home. You need to go up to the command deck, so we can port out,” Aaron felt
the plane start to move as he leaned over and gently picked Richard up,
using some kinetics to make him lighter and easier to handle, he was soon
cradled in his arms and they were out the door. Making their way to the next
deck, Aaron quickly went to the command chair but Kevin was already sitting
there smiling with the hum of the generator going as he went about porting
the clan back two at a time.

Grinning, Kevin ported Kenny and Damien back the Clan
Hall as soon as they rushed up to the deck after saying good bye to Tommy,
for now, leaving Tim and Aaron standing there.

“Well, it looks like someone has been practicing on the
sly,” Aaron grinned before moving close enough to kiss him, “Good job, I’ll
see you back at the Clan Hall after you finish your lessons, I think we have
some celebrating to do.”

Kevin grinned, before reaching for the gestalt and
porting himself home, Aaron, turning to Tim as he sat down in the chair to
pull energy from the gestalt so it would not go into hibernation mode, “Do
you want a hand or just a mental I’m with you as you port out?”

Grinning, Tim moved forward so he could kiss Aaron,
careful not to dislodge the sensor on Richard's forehead, looked him in the
eye, “I may not be as secure in using my gifts yet, but I know you would not
let me do something that might hurt me, so I’ll port out and if you happen
to keepa mental eye on me,
well it’s not like I asked for it, is it.” Tim giggled as he started to draw
energy from the gestalt, and after a moment, he was gone except for the
excited yell in Aarons head over accomplishing it by himself.

Laughing, Aaron swiveled the chair to face the pilot,
“John, the only one’s left are the one’s going to Hawaii, so you’re safe to
land in four hours. Try to leave by five, that way you can get home to Mandy
by six thirty, six o clock if you kick it up a few notches.” Waiting until
John waved back at him, eyes still glued to the instruments. Aaron laughing,
ported out, the gestalt generator, after a few minutes, shut down going into
hibernation.

Arriving at the Clan Hall near the dining area, Aaron
thought maybe the best place to work with Richard would be the hot springs,
“David, would you and Kenny meet me at the hot springs top side, after you
guys finish your tutor session, about three hours or so; I think the two of
you can help Richard talk through some of his problems, you had similar home
backgrounds, well enough that you can understand what he went through.”

“We’ll be there…come on Kenny, let’s get to work so
we’ll be done when Richard needs us,” David pulled at Kenny who nodded his
head, eager to help.

“How about we make a picnic of it later, say a late
lunch around one, I’ll help get things together, and we all can meet at the
hot springs and eat and be there for Richard if he needs us,” Damien
volunteered.

Smiling at the crush Damien had on Richard, “that
sounds wonderful, Damien, I’m sure everyone would like that and some of the
others will help out I’m sure,” kicking off his shoes and not having to
worry about socks, he kinetically unsnapped his shorts and let them drop to
the ground, stepping out of them, he smiled as he felt hands pulling his
shirt up over his head and Derrick, seeing the need, moved close enough to
take Richard long enough for Aaron to slip his shirt off also. Thinking
about it for a moment, he saw Damien still close, “Everything but Richard's
undershorts need to go, as there really is not a good place to change near
the hot springs.”

Damien
was quick to jump in, and then changing his mind, went to pull Richard’s
shirt off while Derrick removed his shoes socks and trousers. Nodding his
thanks, Aaron ported to the waterfall steps, leading to the hot spring.
Walking up the steps, he eventually reached the top and slowly stepped into
the warm water. Letting Richard float in the warm water, he placed the first
aid kit down on the flat dry rock areas and sat down in the water before
pulling Richard’s upper body around near his chest. Letting Richard float
and holding on to him so he did not sink, Aaron opened the first aid kit,
one handed, and pulled out several preloaded syringes, this was going to be
unpleasant for Richard as he was unaltered, hopefully not too unpleasant. Now that Kevin had discovered a new way of linking with unaltered minds, but
he didn't want to take chances. Sighing, he closed his eyes and let his mind
drift towards Richard's, just at the point of touching his surface thoughts
and started.

Edward and his father, along with his brother Andrew,
strode into the family wing of Buckingham palace, Victoria, seeing the lack
of her third grandson was worried. After the way his father and mother had
treated him this morning; she was afraid he would rightfully ask for asylum,
and knowing Aaron as she now did, he would grant it without hesitation,
“Where is Richard?” She softly asked hesitating, not sure if she wanted an
answer.

Edward glared at his former uncle, “It seems the good
Earl and Countess’s care of my cousin went far beyond what we thought or
imagined. Richard right now should be in the capable hands of the healers
where they will try to undo the damage that was done.”

“How dare you take that tone with me, heir or not, I am
your elder and uncle; you will respect me,” Stewart, the queen's youngest,
stood up angry and shaking in rage.

Edward turned his cold gaze on the Earl, “I beg your
pardon Earl, I thought for a moment you disrespected your social betters,
for your information, I have only one uncle, the Duke of York. I repudiate
any familial relations you might consider us having.”

“Edward?” Victoria’s husband, the Duke, said calmly.

Edward turned to face his grandparents, “Yes
grandfather.”

“This is not easy for me to ask, let alone for us to
hear,” he placed his hand over top of his wife's and squeezed it in comfort
for both of them, “I understand that out of all of us, you and Andrew have
had the most contact with your cousin, so I ask you if you had to prosecute
Stewart what would the charges be?”

“Young sir, we are on final approach to Honolulu
airport,” Friedrich stepped into the office to see Tommy working on the
terminal, peaking at the screen, he noticed it was not schoolwork, so did
not feel right looking at it until it registered that it was maps and
nursery listings. Moving further into the room, he stared at the map and red
route line, “Should I warn you that I am under orders from the King not to
let you visit any place but the five farms he had listed, before even
considering any other stops on the way back, and that we have time limit of
four hours.”

Tommy looked up and grinned, “Four hours, really…” he
sounded real excited as he sat up, “that is almost an hour longer than I had
planned on having.”

Friedrich couldn’t help the small groan of despair he
let out, as he studied the map along with timetable that Tommy had drawn up,
he had even allotted a whole ten minutes at each orchid farm, while he
allotted almost forty minutes at the one nursery. He had to admit that the
Stranton Clan were all such a single minded stubborn lot, intent on finding
ways around the restrictions placed on them without breaking the restriction
as it was worded in the first place.

John walked in, smiling and holding an envelope, “Well
we're down and parked at general aviation and Aaron gave me this envelope to
give to you, Tommy, he said it was last minute instructions.”

Tommy stood, and taking the envelope, opened it and
pulled out the folded note and read it, falling back in his seat he had this
thunderstruck expression on his face as he turned a sorrow filled look at
his carefully created itinerary all shot to hell. Reaching over, Friedrich
snagged the note from Tommy’s slack hand and read it.

Tommy

By now I am sure
you have created this elaborate work around for my order to go shopping at
each of the orchid farms I set up an appointment for you at. Well love, I
can be sneaky and underhanded too, though I can’t wait to hear about how you
planned everything out.

I have contacted each of the orchid
farms and made a seven hundred dollar deposit with each of them and given
the order that you have to pick out each plant personally, and you are
limited to no more than two of the same variety.

I figure if
Friedrich drives fairly fast, you might have twenty minutes or so to look
over the fields of Tia Tiki Nurseries before having to be back at the plane
to leave, that is, take a quick peek around and hand over the list I am sure
you have compiled, they can pack and deliver for a Monday pickup by one of
our jets.

Still love you

Aaron – the
sneakier one

Friedrich snorted, took one look at Tommy’s face and
looked at the map and laughed at how devastated Tommy looked, as if someone
told him that Christmas had been cancelled and the gifts returned, “Well,
the limo is outside by now, if we don’t get a move on you’ll never get to
stop at that nursery.” Friedrich laughed as Tommy bolted from his chair and
ran out into the cabin, heading for the door, from the top of the steps, he
could see Tommy on the passenger side of the limo waving at him to hurry up
and pointing to the driver’s side, he could see the wheels turning as Tommy
was already coming up with a new way to have more than twenty minutes at the
nursery.

A twenty minute ride later, Friedrich turned into the
first nursery on the list, and as Tommy stepped out of the limo and looked
around, Friedrich felt that uh oh sensation when he saw the determination
and a glint in Tommy’s eyes he was not sure he liked.

“Hello…” Tommy shook the hand of the owner of the
nursery that came out to greet him with a smile.

“And a good day to you back, I expect you have been
warned about the deposit already made,” the owner of the farm catching the
single nod pointed off to the side, where the greenhouses had big red do not
enter signs on them, “I thought we would start out by showing you some up
and coming prospects, I have a few each in bloom of a good portion and a
large number of pots ready to release next spring, but seeing as it’s for
the King's son and all, I want you to get the best.”

Tommy was about to correct the man about being Aaron’s
son, but as he followed the man in through the door, his breath caught as he
saw some of the most beautiful specimens he had ever seen, this was going to
be agony, he thought.

Friedrich chuckled again as he walked into the
greenhouse, “I take it back, I’ll have to tell his Majesty that he did not
need to go to all those elaborate steps to make sure you concentrated on
what you came after, and not things for the farms.” Not getting a response
from Tommy, Friedrich ended up tapping him on the back to break the spell he
fell under, and then being the budding prankster he was turning into, he
said, “Sorry young Sir, but I don’t know how we are going to make it, after
all, you just spent an hour standing here starring off into space.”

Jumping, Tommy swore under his breath before catching
the clock on the far wall and scowled over his shoulder at Friedrich, “Not
nice…not nice at all, I think I’ll tell Tim you want his help setting you up
with a couple of blind dates to take the edge off.” Smirking at how pale
Friedrich became, he leaned backwards, “you play nice…I’ll play
nice…agreed?” waiting until Friedrich hastily agreed before turning back to
the owner, “let’s start over there.”

Three hours and twenty minutes later, a very tired but
pleased Tommy stepped out of the limo at Tia Tiki nurseries, he had done it,
shaved precious minutes off as he bought orchids like crazy. It was only at
the last farm they had been at, that he really made up time, the manager had
handed him a bunch of red stakes banded in purple at the top and told him to
have at it, his people would come behind and package up his picks. Looking
gleeful and sneaking a peak at Friedrich, who glanced at his watch, he
started to race up and down the aisles, it was not until he was halfway
through the greenhouse that he had to slow down to wait until the manager
had gotten him some more stakes. He, of course, went over budget at that
farm, but it was worth it to see Friedrich’s shocked expression as the
manager started pulling some of his picks and commented on how quickly he
could spot the quality amongst the mediocre.

Now here he stood having reached his goal and he had an
extra fifteen minutes to browse the experimental groves, not seeing anyone,
he looked back to Friedrich who was doing his scan of the area and spotting
all the hiding spots routine, before pointing off in the direction of the
office then starting that way. Peaking into the glassless window, Tommy
still did not see anyone, but he thought he heard voices from out back and
started to walk around the building.

“Dustin, there is a diplomatic party coming in I’ve
been told, so you need to get your guys and hide them real good so no one
finds ya, take your guys to the shed out in back of the experimental grove,
don’t rightly be expecting him to want to go out there as time is an issue
for him, so I’ve been told.”

“Thanks Mr. D, with this we’ll be able to eat real good
for about a week, even the little ones will have a full belly for a change,”
the young voice sighed, “I appreciate you letting us work at night after
everything closes up, without what you are doing for us I don’t think we
would have made it.”

Reaching the back of the building, Tommy saw a part
Asian boy speaking to an older man and watched as the older man stood up
straighter and wiped the sweat from under his hat before putting it back on.

“I am just doing what is right, what your parents did
to all of ya is just wrong and God will get them in the end, they will be
real sorry after reaching them pearly gates and finding out they is
scheduled to go straight down.” The old man started to turn around, “I just
wish I could do more for ya, but the government does not want an old queer
round kids, specially gay ones…as if I could even get it up any more……” he
trailed off, seeing Tommy peaking around the corner and Friedrich standing
off to one side in plain view.

Busted thought Tommy, as he walked around the corner so
he could be seen, “Hi, I’m looking for Oscar, I think he is expecting me
from what I overheard, sorry about that; I looked in the office and when I
didn’t see anyone I heard voices, and I was just going to wait but after
hearing what was being said, I was trying to think of a way to help.”

Dustin looked like his world had ended, pale and scared
he sat down heavily on the ground, more of crumpled in a controlled sort of
way, Tommy thought, “Hey Dustin, I’m not going to make waves for you or
Oscar, what he is doing is something to be proud of. I was thinking of
making sure he got all our business as a thank you for what he has done for
you.” Tommy had made it slowly to Dustin’s side and sat down in front of him
so he could look at the crying teen, “truly, I don’t want to do anything
that would hurt either of you.”

“You won’t go calling the cops or Five O on us?” Dustin
looked up, trying to understand why someone would be nice to him, after all,
the past three years had taught him no one was nice for nothing.

Shaking his head slowly, Tommy smiled, “Right now, the
feds are scared of us, for trying to do underhanded things that pissed Aaron
off, so nope, not going to the feds or the cops. Truthfully, I would not
trust them to do what is right.”

“Why's that lad?” Oscar asked, as he kept one eye on
the scary young dude that screamed predator to him.

“Way to many of them look the other way when they find
out the victim is gay, hell most would just as soon help out, and don’t
forget that on the whole, there are more criminals in the police department
than outside of the department on an equal percentage basis.” Tommy sounded
disgusted, and looked up at Friedrich, “What can we do to help them?
I think they fall under our mission
of saving in danger gay youth, I sure would consider not being able to eat
until you were full a danger.”

“That is totally your call, Young Sir, but from what
Aaron has told us, they would all fall under the rules of rescue, while I
have diplomatic immunity, only you can initiate a rescue as you outrank me
right now,” Friedrich prompted, still scanning the area and practicing
dipping into Dustin’s surface thoughts.

“That’s bullshit Friedrich, and you know it…I have
never even seen this done before, so what are my options?” Tommy scowled
back up at him.

Chuckling, Friedrich nodded his head, “Yes…sure it is,
but you would not do yourself or Aaron any favors if you did not follow the
Clan Motto.” He looked down knowingly at Tommy, who looked back shocked.

Standing up and brushing his pants off, Tommy looked at
Friedrich, “I forgot for a moment and fell back into my old habits. Thank
you for reminding me who and what I am.” Smiling at Oscar, and then down at
Dustin, he extended his hand in greeting, “As I was just reminded, I did
forget some things, like introducing myself for one, Tommy Ness, of Clan
Stranton of the Kingdom of Altare.”

“I read about you boys on the internet; you brought
that big assed hospital ship into California to help all those kids out.”
Oscar smiled as he shook Tommy’s hand, “Rumor has been trying to link you
all to a supposed statement by your King, that you would be rescuing gay
kids, from what you said a moment ago, I would have to say it’s not a rumor,
is it?”

Laughing, Tommy reached out to shake Dustin’s hand and
when Dustin started to let go after shaking Tommy’s hand, he helped pull him
to his feet, “That would be us, and right now, I am thinking about rescuing
Dustin and his friends, so why don’t we go around to the office and talk,
Friedrich can act all dark and imposing and keep people away, while we
talk.”

Oscar smiled, he had heard nothing but good things
about this group, nodding towards Dustin who looked ready to run, “Dustin,
you just come round to the office, I think these people can help you and the
little ones, more than that, I think you will be safe if you go with them.”
He placed his hand on the young one's shoulder and not letting go, pushed
and pulled him around to the office.

Pulling his P.A.D.D. Out, Tommy noticed the state of
the art computer system on the desk, one of theirs, actually, and copied his list over to a spare
Isolinear chip and handed it to Oscar, “I see one of the systems we sell, so
my list is on this chip and you can copy it over to your system while we
chat, one of the things I was really interested in though, hopefully you can
provide, is the cocoa seedlings.”

Not staring, but taking a close look at Dustin, Tommy
decided he would be cute, once he was cleaned up and added on some weight.
Sighing, he started, “Dustin, there are several ways to go about this, and
you don’t even have to go with us if you don’t want,” looking at the ceiling
as he organized his thoughts. “We can relocate you to wherever you wish,
including relatives somewhere else, if you think it will be in your best
interest. We can go our separate ways right now with you knowing that all
you have to do is meet one of our planes at the general aviation terminal at
the airport to get rescued. Or you can come back to the Kingdom with me
today, or the plane will be back on Monday to pick up our order from Oscar.”

Looking back down at Dustin so he could look at him
directly so he could see his face, “If you would choose to come back with
us, you would be given the chance to follow your dreams, that includes going
to school and if you wanted, even collage. You would be given an apartment
to live in, and if you can’t cook, there is always the dining hall. Ninety
five percent of the people living in the Kingdom are gay, and the rest are
BI or too little to know one way or the other. “

“We can stay together…if we go with you we can stay in
the same apartment?” Dustin perked up, wanting to stay together, knowing it
would be kind of crowded.

Tilting his head and wishing he could read the teen's
thoughts instead of guessing, after this weekend, things would be different
he reminded himself, “Well, that depends on how many of you there are, each
apartment has six bedrooms, so if there are more than six you could always
spill out into the apartment across the hall, I would think, or the one up
above.” Seeing the hopeful look on Dustin’s face, he glanced out the window
to see Friedrich standing guard, “the only time I could think of, that you
would not be together, if that is what all of you want, is if some of you
need to go to the med bay for treatment, and then it would only be as long
as it took to heal you.”

“And what do we have to do to pay for the apartments,
how many times a day are you expecting to be serviced and who with?” Dustin
asked suspiciously, knowing that no one gave away anything for free,
everyone wanted something in return.

Tommy was shocked, and it showed on his face, that
alone convinced Dustin more than his words, “We have a rule about sex, well
several, but the big one is that sex has to be agreed on willingly, so, by
giving you a place to stay and food to eat and you paying for it with your
bodies is not willing, the way I look at things, it seems more like a job.
And you will already have a job if you come live with us, it’s called going
to school, and earning an education,” Laughing, Tommy looked at Dustin,
“We're the only place I ever heard of that pays you for every good grade
you get, so at the end of the week, the better you did in school the bigger
your allowance for the week.”

“You're shitting me…really we would get paid for going
to school?” Dustin was shocked and ecstatic, while he did not like going to
school that much before, now that he could not go, he really wanted to go
back.

“No shit. You don’t get paid to go to school, you get
paid based on doing well in school, anything lower than a C will cost you
when it comes to your allowance.” Tommy laughed, “Who wants to jeopardize
their allowance by not doing our best, especially when if you need help, all
you have to do is ask and someone will help you out.”

“It’s the closest thing to perfect I have ever seen,
but like all things, you get out of it what you put into it. Plus, there are
always things to do, some way to help out, if you like farming and working
with plants, there is always something needing to be done, Brian could
always use help with the food farms, but never more than an hour or two a
day, and only if you want. Most people will help out in different areas
until they find something they like doing, then they will settle down and
make their life’s work doing what they love.” Tommy smiled widely, “as much
as I love working with plants, I fell in love with Aquaculture so I run the
fish farms, though Aaron will be starting up some Aquaponics systems soon
and then I’ll be able to combine them both.”

Sensing Dustin was close to agreeing, or at least he
hoped he was, Tommy offered, “Look, you can give it a try, and if it doesn’t
work out for you, we’ll drop you off wherever you want us to. You are not
prisoners after all; you would be a citizen of our kingdom with all the same
rights and duties as everyone else.”

Torn, Dustin looked over to the man that for the past
couple of weeks had been looking out for them as much as possible, giving
them more to do, after finding out the truth about them instead of all the
other places of ordering them off and not paying them for the work done,
“Mr. D…” he pleaded.

Oscar looked over to Dustin from his desk where he was
working up the cost estimate for this huge order, “Dustin, if I was younger,
I would not be hesitating, I would be jumping up and down and grabbing on to
the young diplomat and not letting him out of my eyesight until I was
stepping down the steps at that kingdom of his. I might talk a little funny
and not be the best after my Albert done got himself killed by them redneck
haters, but I know enough to know when someone is speaking the truth, and to
make my way around that fancy internet thing to find out both sides of the
story. I be telling ya this is a good thing and they can help you if you
try.”

“We can come back, if it does not work out?” Dustin
wanted to go, he really did, but he had learned not to trust, though he did
trust Mr. D, to some extent.

Standing up and coming around his desk, Oscar gently
lifted Dustin’s chin, “Ya be listening to this old man, Dustin, this is your
chance and ya best be taking it, going with them means living again, it means
trusting again,” staring intently in Dustin’s eyes, “It means ya can dream
again, Son.”

Looking, looking for any hesitation or lies on Mr. D’s
face, and not finding any, Dustin accepted, “For you, Mr. D, for you we will
do this…and I’ll try my best, I promise.”

Oscar pulled the young man into a hug, now that he knew
that the boy was going to be safe, he did not have to worry about someone
taking it the wrong way and he hugged him like his life depended on it.

Surprised yet pleased by the show of affection, Dustin
looked over his shoulder, “Twelve, there is twelve of us ranging from seven
to me who is sixteen, all half breed throw-a-ways
and the little ones might need to go to your med bay they seem to be pretty
sick, lately.”

Standing up, Tommy came to a decision, “You and Oscar
go get them as quick as you can, we'll get them to the airport as quickly as
we can and back home so they can be seen by the healers, I’m going to call
the plane and make sure we’re ready to go as soon as we get there.” Watching
Dustin jump up and drag Oscar out of the office, Tommy followed as far as
Friedrich, “We have twelve being rescued, and some of them are real young
and real sick.”

“Right away, young Sir, I’ll have the car ready,”
Friedrich ran towards the limo opening the back seat and pulling the first
aid kit out, not that either one of them could do much with it but pray.

Reaching up and pulling the mic down, Tommy tapped the
button to activate it, “John, how quickly can we be in the air once we get
there? I have twelve rescues and some of them are sick.”

Jumping when his communicator activated, John pulled
the mic down, “The truck with your last load just pulled up, I can be loaded
by the time you get back, how sick is the kid?”

Seeing Friedrich run past him to take one of the
children from two of the boys, Tommy moved to help some of those walking,
into the car, “Real sick…John, most are sick and three of them look real
bad.”

Tommy and Friedrich helped the kids into the back of
the Limo before Tommy pointed to the front seat, “Dustin, sit up there, I’ll
take the back with the first aid kit,” he told him, as he climbed in the
back, “Hi guys, I hope you don’t get too scared, but we are going to my
plane at the airport so we can get your friends out of here and get them
some help. I’ll let you know what I am doing so you know I’m not hurting
them, okay?”

Pulling the first aid kit over, Tommy frowned, there
was only enough sensors for two people, one of them would have to wait until
they got on board. Almost getting thrown to the floor as Friedrich took off,
Tommy went about placing the sensors on the two worst looking boys' temples,
“Can you help me get their shirts off, so I can put the medical sensor on,
it will help the doctors, once we get back, if they don’t have to do it.”

One of the boys dropped to the floor and started to
pull the shirts off the other two, while Tommy got the one off he was
working on, “John, you still there?” he asked as he touched the communicator
once more.

“Halfway loaded, Tommy, what do you need me to do?”
John grunted, as they moved the boxes faster into the hold.

“How many first aid kits do we have on board, I ran out
of sensor units,” looking at how some of the other kids did not look too
good, “I’m thinking about needing at least six more.” Glancing over the seat
since the window was down, “Friedrich how long until we get to the airport?”

“Five minutes,” Friedrich yelled back, as he saw how
upset the teen next to him was, and listening to him blame himself, he
placed a hand on the teen's knee jerking him upright, “Dustin is it,” seeing
him nod, he smiled, “Dustin, sometimes with young ones like that, they can
go from running in the yard playing, to not moving and very sick in a matter
of minutes, it’s not your fault, okay? From
what I have seen, you have done your best…beyond your best for all of them,
now, I need you to be brave, can you do that for me?”

Nodding his head, Dustin looked over the back of the
seat as Tommy worked.

The three men from the orchid farm stopped, after
unloading the truck, to try to listen in after hearing that there were sick
kids being discussed, listening in, the foreman stopped when he heard the
pilot.

“Six, you need six more, that means you have nine kids
that bad, I’ll round them up somehow. How soon will you get here, this is not one of
the medical planes, so we will need to get a move on.” John said, as he ran
to the steps, trying to remember where besides the one by the door, the
other first aid kits were.

Finding three kits just in time, John ran down the
steps to meet the limo coming through the gates with a cop car's lights
flashing in the distance, great he thought, there might be an international
incident on top of things, if things went sour, none of the Clan would ever
be allowed off the island again.

Friedrich screeched to a halt, not far from the steps
and not even bothering to shut the engine off, leapt from the driver’s seat,
“Get all those that can walk up into the plane, we’ll take off as soon as we
are all inside.”

Officer Bradley saw the limo stop near that funny jet,
glancing up to get the tail numbers just in case, he frowned before
remembering where he had seen that name before, then it came to him, those
new people that saved all those kids flew everyone back to the states from
their fancy hospital. That was a diplomatic aircraft, and one used for
medical emergencies. Seeing the line of dirty and sickly looking kids climb
out of the limo, he did not even think twice before running over to help,
seeing the kids get scared, he smiled, “Come on let’s get you into the plane
where you can get help.” Shocked, the kids let themselves be led inside and
as he turned, he saw three very still looking young kids and several more
that looked real sick being carried up the stairs.

Bringing up the rear, Tommy stopped to look at the
officer a little funnily, before starting to give out orders, “Friedrich, make
these kids comfortable and watch them real close, as soon as everyone is
off, seal the hatch, I’ll be up on the command deck, we are going for VTOL
with sub orbital insertion, let’s see if John is good enough to keep him
together, seeing this is a plane not one of Pete’s playthings.”

“Right away, Young Sir,” Friedrich started to grab the
sensors form the line of open first aid kits on the table, so he could place
them on the boys.

Seeing the people off the plane, Tommy turned to them
and the officer, “Thank you for your help, not to be rude, but we are about
to do an emergency take off.”

Nodding his head, the officer yelled down, “Move this
thing away, NOW.” Before saluting the young man who seemed to be in charge,
as the steps moved away.

Nodding in acknowledgment, Tommy closed the hatch
before running up the stairs to the command deck. Sitting down hard in the
command chair, Tommy logged in and tied his communicator into the radio net,
“John, we are sealed and ready to go.”

“Honolulu tower, this is Altare six, declaring an
emergency; clear all airspace around us. We are preparing for emergency
ascent,” Tommy’s voice rang out over the speaker as John taxied the plane
away from the hanger.

“Altare Six state the nature of your emergency, please
confirm you are leaving, not waiting on the arrival of EMS,” the air traffic
controller’s voice sounded confused.

“Honolulu Tower, we have nine medical emergencies on
board and our destination is Altair Trauma Center. We will be going VTOL to
fifty thousand feet, in T minus sixty seconds; please confirm clear
airspace,” Tommy was calm and collected on the radio as the butterfly’s in
his stomach danced the tango.

“Altare Six, are you telling me that plane can go VTOL,
over?” the air traffic controller wondered.

“Honolulu tower, that is affirmative and you have
thirty seconds to clear the airspace before we go vertical,” Tommy let some
impatience creep into his voice.

“Altare Six, this is Honolulu international, you have
clear air space to fifty thousand feet…god speed, Altare Six.” Another
deeper voice cut in.

“Thank you Honolulu international, going vertical…NOW,”
Tommy told them, as the jet jumped into the air and went straight up, as
John climbed fast to reach fifty thousand feet.

“John, take us sub-orbital while I call ahead to Altair
Minor, do your best to mimic a Screaming Eagle,” Tommy giggled in terror,
before linking to the Core system through the terminal and changing
frequencies.

All over the hospital as the doctors and residents
relaxed and practiced with the equipment the speakers suddenly blared to
life…“Altair Minor Trauma, please respond, this is Altare Six declaring a
medical emergency…”

“Altair Minor Trauma, please respond, this is Altare
Six declaring a medical emergency…” came again before John in the Kitchen
added his voice to the mix, since no one else seemed to be, he had tied his
communicator into the system, being in front of his terminal.

“This is Altair Trauma, Altare Six, state the nature of
your emergency and number of patient’s.,” John's voice was calm and
reassuring as the doctors rushed to the trauma wing.

“Be advised we have nine patients on board with medical
sensors in place and declare three medical trauma ones. Total number of
rescued is twelve,” Tommy hoped he got his point across, as he had no clue
other than trauma one was very bad and made people run.

“Roger that, twelve patients, nine on monitors and
three critical, please advise ETA,” John hoped someone knew how to get those
kids off one of the planes.

After getting an answer from John, Tommy's voice could
be heard over the speakers again, “Be advised we are going sub-orbital and
we should arrive in ten minutes at the latest.”

“Roger that, Altare Six, confirm ten minutes to touch
down from sub-orbital hop,” John started for the trauma wing before stopping
and turning around to start typing inquires on his terminal. Luckily, his
access included the medical side of things as he found answers and initiated
emergency landing procedures, causing nine Bio-Tubes to be sent out to the
landing field triage station.

Tommy, seeing the brief blackness around them and then
the white turn to blue was relived, in a few short minutes, they would be on
the ground and he could go home and get a hug, then his calm orderly world
fell apart as Friedrich’s voice came up the stairs, “One of the kids stopped
breathing…”

Still connected to the radio, Tommy’s panic filled
voice came over the hospital speakers, “Shit, what do you call this when he
stops breathing… ‘Code Blue’…now, what did Aaron call it goddamn it…it’s not
fair we rescued them.”

Hearing John yell out code patient Tommy took a deep
breath and told them, “Altair Trauma we are declaring ‘Code Patient’ I
repeat we are declaring ‘Code Patient’.”

Editors section:

RadioRanchers Musings:

Is that a cliffhanger? The plane isn't in its hanger
yet. Hmmm. This was another fully packed, event filled chapter. There were
some major accomplishments, and some real excitement. Let's hope we have
good results with the Code patient, in the next chapter.

A/N: hmm cliffhanger or not, evil or not, moving I is
LOL

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